Zambia, Zimbabwe to start Kariba dam repairs in early 2017

Zambia and Zimbabwe plan to start repairs to Kariba dam in the first quarter of next year without affecting hydro power supply in either country which is generated from the reservoir, a senior World Bank official said.

The Zambezi River Authority, a joint venture between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the African Development Bank, the European Union, Sweden and the World Bank provided $294 million for the project, the World Bank’s Senior Water Resources Specialist Marcus Wishart said in response to emailed questions.

The dam, which is more than five decades old, supplies water to a hydro-electric power station in Zambia with an installed capacity of 1,080 Megawatts (MW) and another in Zimbabwe which has an installed capacity of 750 MW.

Zambia has a total installed capacity of 2,200 MW, higher than its southern neighbour, Zimbabwe which has an installed capacity of 1,980 MW.﻿